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Title [Voices of Youth] My Learning Experience During the 3rd Martial Arts Open School : My Summer with Taekwondo

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    705
  • Date
    09-09-2020
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Aidan Akai Nerquaye-Tetteh

 



The Martial Arts Open School aims to involve more youth and women in martial art activities, and foster physical and psychological development of the participants through the use of martial arts around the world. 

 

Association International School

Taekwondo Student of the 3rd MAOS 

Held 24 June to 16 August 2019

Aidan Akai Nerquaye-Tetteh


When my mother first told me I would be attending Taekwondo classes as part of the 2019 3rd Martial Arts Open School, my first thought was “What?” Then I became thrilled because I had seen people like Jackie Chan and Kung Fu Panda fighting on TV and I wanted to be like that. At first I thought it would be held at a place I had never been before so I was nervous, but I was even more nervous when I found out that the classes were held at Association International School. Why was I nervous? Because I kind of left the school abruptly, so I was nervous to see my old friends.


On the first day, I met my teachers who were from Korea. They taught us all how to do the Jirugi punch and a few fighting stances. In the days that followed, we practiced Dollyo Chagi, a roundhouse kick, Ap Chagi, a front kick, the knife hand block, closed fist block and a fighting performance. Besides learning about Taekwondo, we also learnt about Korea and their culture, and how to write and say some words in Korean. We also watched Korean music videos, also known as Kpop. I think I would like Kpop better if it wasn’t in a different language.


 The learning experience was like going to a new school except we were learning how to fight. Every day we learnt a different word in Korean.  The first few days we learnt the greetings and then the alphabets. Then there was the part about our names. Our teacher’s made a point of letting us know that our names were very important because we had to mention it every time we went for a tournament.  I particularly enjoyed when we learnt some basic sentences in Korean.


The discipline behind Taekwondo was really interesting.  You were to use it only in self-defense and never attack someone for no reason.  Because of my size I felt this was really good advice for me because sometimes other kids in my class do things to annoy me but I remain calm and never fight back. Honestly, I think Taekwondo is more than fighting. It is a way of self-defense and it is also a way to show your control over yourself.  All in all, my Taekwondo experience was very fun, amazing and a great way to spend my summer.